Never Forget
by GateofTruth201
Summary: She finally escaped from her father's control. Now she had to teach her little sister to do the same, but would they still be the same people afterword? Introspective, Winter-centric.


**Author's Notes:** Saw the new Weiss trailer as soon as it came out and can't get over how _gorgeous_ it looks. CRWBY has definitely stepped up their game in using their new engine to their advantage. The show looking better and better with each volume seems to be a running theme and I can't wait to see what Vol. 5 has in store.

So, anyway...my first fanfic! Let me know what you think- I value all feedback!

* * *

 **Never Forget**

* * *

"I'm not always going to be around to save you, Weiss."

Those words that Winter said to her little sister after their training exercise kept playing over and over in her head. Her sister's dejected look and muffled promise that she'd get better only made Winter's concern worse. " _Perhaps I was too harsh on her?"_ she thought as she walked down the hallway of her home….her _former_ home. That fact was something her father made clear when she joined the military. Remembering her father's tirade when she told him that she decided to join did not make her mood better one bit.

"Oh, so I see they've even brainwashed you into buying their crap!"he said as he sat in his office. Winter stared at him slack-jawed. Her father always told them that the Schnee family only used the most civil of language, and he lead by example. To hear him use any sort of swear was very off-putting to her.

Him yelling at her was just order of the day.

Winter tried her best to compose herself and try to make her father understand that this was _her_ decision. True, Atlas Academy's teachings helped her decide on her career path but this was most certainly what she wanted, what she had always wanted. To make this world a better place rather than drag it in the mud like her father. Winter took a deep breath in order to calm herself. If she wanted her father to see reason, then she needs to be reasonable herself. "Emotions can grant you strength, but you must never let them overpower you," first rule of the Specialists. " _Remember your training, Winter,"_ she thought, " _head up, shoulders back, right foot forward, not that forward."_

"Father, this has been something that I've wanted for a long time and-"

"Oh, I'm sure it has," he said with disgust. "Even with my best efforts to find a suitable husband for you, one that would be worthy of our family name and make you happy, you've decided to throw all of that away to sleep with the damn headmaster!"

Winter felt a tightness in her chest as she tried to stop herself from crying. She had heard these rumors before at the Academy and tried her best to ignore them. She knew the rumors grew from jealousy of her wealthy upbringing and rationalized that trying to fight against them wasn't worth her time but hearing it from her father still stung. In truth, Winter saw Ironwood as a better role model than her own parents. He was strict but unlike her father he was also compassionate. He could be cold but unlike her mother he was also kind. They were friends and she trusted him unconditionally.

"That's," she took a breath to stop her voice from shaking. "That's not true. The Special Operative's Unit has many benefits to joining, one of which being-"

"Benefits?! I've given you everything you could ever dream of, and you go on about benefits?!" He got up from his seat and walked toward her. "You are an ungrateful, selfish little woman. It doesn't matter what's been given to you or how lucky of a life you've led, it's never enough for you." He stops when they come face-to-face. His cold eyes staring at her shaky, teary eyes. "Fine. If being the military's attack dog matters so much to you, then you don't deserve to be the heiress to _my_ company." He starts walking back to his seat.

"Maybe your sister will appreciate all the hard work I've done for this family that you've failed to realize," he sat back into his seat. "Go. Now."

She slammed the door behind her.

Winter shook the unpleasant memories from her mind as she stopped in the middle of the hallway. She noticed that she unconsciously activated her Semblance as the hallway started to freeze. " _Emotions grant you strength, but never let them overpower you,_ " she thought as she closed her eyes and tried to take control of her Semblance.

Breath in. Breath out. Breath in. Breath out. Breath-

"What are you doing here?"

She had to calm herself when she opened her eyes to see a familiar face. "Besides trying to turn my furniture into icicles, of course. Knowing you, you probably want something. So, what is it?"

She opened her mouth in mock surprise. "Why do you assume that I want something? Can't I just be visiting my 'dear' father? My 'dear' father who, somehow forgot to see me in the hospital after I _saved his life_."

"Klein and Weiss told me that your wounds were not fatal."

"I investigated the rumors of the rogue Huntsman planning to assassinate you. I convinced Sir Ironwood that your life was in danger while you were unaware. I lead the attack against the enemy while you, 'dear' father," she said the word 'dear' with a lot more bit this time "quivered in fear behind your desk." This got his attention if his frown and furrowed brow was anything to go by.

She held her hand over her side where the stab wound was. She could still remember the burning pain of the assassin's knife and her terror when wondering whether it was poisoned. " _Is this how I'm gonna die?"_ she thought. Thankfully, the doctor assured her that there was no poison and with her large amounts of aura she would be back to normal in a few days. "I bleed for our family, and as my reward you say that I wasn't even worth visiting. What do I want? Well….a little bloody gratitude would be a start!"

"Clowns and singers require applause. As you have told me countless times, you are a Specialist. As you have told me countless times, it is your job to protect civilians. Do you think I ask for a bouquet of roses every time I make a tough decision for the good of my company? Hmm? Honestly, I thought spreading that rumor between you and the headmaster would teach you _some_ humility?"

Winter's eyes widened from shock. " _What...what did he say?_ "

"That's right. I didn't want to do it, but I had to. Your constant crazy talk about making the world a better place to live obviously showed just how brainwashed you were. I hoped that the 'light hearted banter' that your peers gave you would wake you up to what the world truly was. Ugly."

Winter couldn't contain herself anymore. She didn't _want_ to contain herself anymore. All her life she was taught that having restraint in one's emotions was the key to a happy life. To show sadness was to show weakness. To show anger was to show defeat. And to show hatred was to show recklessness. Not anymore. The entire hall started to freeze faster until the wall were completely covered in ice. Jacques started to back away as the ice started moving toward him. He saw Winter's eerily calm expression but he knew that there was a raging fire beneath those eyes. Winter summoned two ice Beowolves and they started stalking toward Jacques.

Jacques waved his finger and talked as if he was trying to train a dog to behave. "Winter, no...bad, noooo…"

"Alright, that's enough." A baritone voice said from behind the corridor. Jacques turned around to see Ironwood walking out from the corridor behind him. Winter's face softened upon seeing him but it did not erase all of the hate, betrayal, and sadness that she was feeling. "But Sir, I..." she saw his stern expression and knew that he was serious. "Understood, sir."

The ice Beowolves dissipated and the ice in the room started to melt away until there was none to be found.

"Ah, James. Good to see you. Did you see what your attack dog was going to do to-"

"Cut the crap Jacques, I heard the whole thing." Ironwood said. Jacques was flabbergasted. Ironwood took his dumbfounded silence to continue. "I came to pick up Winter because she was taking too long and we have an interrogation on the fanus that tried to kill you. Now I see what the hold up was. Should I tell the Council why we were late?"

"Uh...no, of course not." Jacques moved to the side and did a mock bow for Winter to move ahead. "As you were, James, daughter."

"Jacques." Winter said as she walked to leave with the headmaster. The bowing white-haired man couldn't hide a big frown from appearing on his face. She knew that that irritated him to no end and she couldn't hide a smirk from being on her face when she walked past.

Winter and Ironwood went into the airship and as they sat in their seats Ironwood placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?" he said.

"I'll be fine." she said. She took a deep breath as she tried to calm herself. "I appreciate you coming to pick me up sir, but I can fly on my own, this is my ship after all."

He chuckled. "I said that this is _going_ to be your ship. You still have a long ways before you can fly by yourself."

She frowned. "I'm getting better."

He smirked. "That poor tree you flew into would disagree."

She narrowed her eyes at him until she realized that he was just teasing her and that she fell for it. She decided to look out of the window instead. Some time had past from their flight before Winter's thoughts kept going back to Weiss. She couldn't shake her little sister's terrified face from her mind. Did she think that Winter _wouldn't_ call off the Beowolves? The last thing that Winter wanted was to make her siblings think that she would hurt them. She loved Weiss. She loved Whitley even though she knew that he'd never say the same. He would always try to find new ways to prank her like flinging food at her during dinner. She always chalked that up to him just being a boy and that he'd grow out of it. It still didn't excuse her father encouraging such behavior or her mother's apathy towards….anything that happened to them.

She's seen similar situations to the training that she gave Weiss. Only the fake Grimm were replaced with real ones, there wasn't someone that could call them off, and...

She was too late to save them.

" _I'm only trying to make her learn that the world is a lot harsher than she...than we, realized._ " she thought. " _That's….the same thing that Jacques was saying to me._ " Was she becoming just like her father? Justifying her actions under a thin excuse that the world is cold and that we should be even colder than it? The thought horrified her but there was someone next to her that she could always turn to for advice.

"Sir," she said. "If someone makes a decision that hurts someone else but they believe it's for the other's safety, how will they know that their decision was the right one?"

"I'm afraid that question's too vague. Could you be more specific?"

"I'm asking how you can teach someone you love a valuable lesson without being extreme in your methods."

"...You're thinking about your brother and sister, aren't you?"

"Yes, sir. Weiss moreso."

Ironwood took a deep breath. It seemed he was deep in thought as there was a long pause. "My friends have said that I can be, as you said 'extreme', in my methods of protecting Atlas. Many times I question whether my actions really are as bad as they say. Whenever I do that I ask myself why I'm doing this. If the answer is truly for the good of Atlas, then I know that I've made the right call."

This didn't help Winter make any more sense out of her predicament. This must have shown on her face as Ironwood continues. "That's just how I see things. But you're not me, and you're definitely not your father." Winter turns to look at him and see the sincere expression on his face. "If you trust that your sister is serious about going to Beacon, then trust that she knows that all of your efforts have been for her."

Winter pondered on those words as they descended to the interrogation room.

"Thank you, sir."

"Your welcome, Winter."

As they stepped out of the airship, Winter could already hear the loud chants of the crowd of faunus that surrounded Atlas Hall. She had heard that the faunus assassin pleaded innocent and that he was set up by Schnee Dust Company because of their hatred to Faunus. No matter how implausible this claim was, or how much evidence was placed against him, the faunus half of the population in Atlas were unyielding in their belief that the Faunus assassin was either innocent or a dashing rogue that wanted to give that jackass Jacques something he deserved, that the Special Operatives Unit "sold their souls to the government for power", and that the SDC's propaganda would only make things worse for Faunus life in Atlas.

" _If only all of those weren't true._ " Winter thought. She would have to focus if she wanted to get a confession out of him. From what little she knew about him the Faunus assassin was very charming and polite in public. Never seen without a friendly smile on his face when talking or wounded puppy-dog eyes when asked if he was a criminal. He knew how to get people on his side and Winter admitted that she didn't have….the best people skills. But that didn't matter. All she had to do was make him confess. She just knew that it wasn't going to be easy.

"Oh yeah, I totally tried to kill 'em." the Faunus assassin said. Winter and Ironwood stared at him confused. The assassin was a hyena faunus, if the spotted fur around his face was anything to go by. He certainly laughed like a spotted hyena when he saw his interrogators' dumbfounded expressions. "What, did I stutter?"

Ironwood managed to compose himself in order to ask the question that was on both of their minds. "You've pleaded your innocence up until this point. Why change now?"

"I expected to at least break a few of your bones before we got to that part." Winter said.

The Hyena assassin once again made his trademark laugh. Neither Winter or Ironwood wanted to show or admit it, but they were both creeped out over how _inhumane_ his laugh was. "What's so funny?" she said. He looked at Winter with a grin that showed his razor-sharp teeth. "Now you're starting to talk like a Hunter."

" I _am_ a Hunter."

"No you're not. You may pretend that you are but I've seen what a _real_ Hunter is and I know that Hunters don't become the kingdom's lab dog. And when these 'civilized people' realize that you Specialist are more trouble than you're worth, they'll kick you out." His grin grew even wider as he laughed. "Better hope daddy dearest has an outhouse for ya."

She punched him.

"Winter, that's enough!" Ironwood yelled. She was still clenching her fist that had the blood coming from the assassin's nose. He whipped the blood away to reveal the wound on his nose. It was going to leave a scar. He laughed even more. "Y'know when I was looking over your family's files, your's was the one I liked the most. A Specialist always reminded by her 'friends' how lucky she was being born a Schnee even though she was kicked out of her own home. A Schnee always reminded by her father how she'll never be a part of the family after becomin' a Specialist. Don't you get it? _You're_ the joke!"

She grabbed him by the collar and shoved him against the wall. Ironwood tried to make her let him go but she wasn't listening this time. This didn't deter the faunus as he was still laughing. "Oh yeah, speakin' of those files I was going to kill someone else after your dear old dad. Who was it again? Short. Great singer. Going to be the new heires-" She started to choke him. All the assassin could do was weakly flail his legs around as she did so. It took a lot more effort than Ironwood imagined but he managed to get Winter away from him. The assassin massaged his throat as he coughed for breath. His trademark laugh could still be heard between his coughing fits.

"Winter, go to the training room and calm yourself. That's an order."

She heard him but did not move. All she did was stare at the assassin on the ground and think about how she would make him pay.

"Winter!"

She walked out of the room and slammed the door behind her. The assassin still laughed as he and Ironwood sat back into their seats. "Man, you have some taste in woman Mr. Headmaster. I like it."

"Is this what you wanted? Confessing so that my star pupil could beat the crap out of you? Congratulations."

"Oh naw, that's not what I wanted. It was a nice bonus though. No, what I wanted was to show you two the truth."

"Which is?"

"That deep down, you two still have what it takes to be Hunters. True Hunters, not those glorified lap dogs Atlas goes on about. No, Hunters are free. We don't sell our loyalty to any Kingdom, our loyalty is to our wallets. Our boss isn't some douche in a tux, we're our own boss. Our goal isn't some 'for the good of the Kingdom' crap, our goal is for the good of ourselves. Don't you get it? You think that criminals and Hunters are different but never stopped to realize that Hunters _are_ criminals. The world just hasn't realized it." Ironwood just stared at him surprised. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was the man that delusional that he honestly believed this farce? The crazed Faunus wasn't finished. "See I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve."

Ironwood got up from his seat. He had heard enough. "I think we're done here." he said.

The crazed Faunus laughed as if Ironwood had made a joke. "Oh we're done hear, but out there? When those poor people hear how I was found guilty and come up to the logical answer that I was," he touched the still bleeding wound he received from Winter "physically assaulted in order to get a confession, we won't be done. I wonder how your precious military will handle all the backlash. What'll happen when the 'civilized people' you worked so hard to defend turn against you? I can't wait to find out in my cell." The convicted Faunus' inhuman laughter could still be heard even after Ironwood shut the door behind him.

Winter had just finished her fencing practice when Ironwood arrived. She still wasn't ready to face him but knew that she would have to eventually. She took a deep breath as he approached her.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

She stood up straight and saluted him. "Yes. Sir, I apologize for losing my temper earlier. It was unprofessional of me and I promise that it will not happen in the future."

"At ease, Winter." He sat down on one of the benches and pat the seat next to him. "Come. Sit."

They sat in silence for a short time before Ironwood sighed. "To be honest, I don't blame you for losing your temper. I believe that I would have done the same thing if I was in your shoes. But that does not mean that what you did was right. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir. Emotions can grant you strength, but-"

"you must never let them overpower you. First rule of the Specialist." they both finished in unison. "That's correct." Ironwood said.

"Honestly sir, what he said has still been bothering me. I've heard similar talk about my background many times although they were far less...'verbose' than this time. Everyone will make sure that I never forget how 'lucky' I am and 'how dare I take that for granted'. It seems there's no end of complaints about me. Complements seem to be in rare supply though."

"Don't mind me, I'm just sitting right here." He quipped.

"N-no sir, that's not what I-" she noticed the smirk on his face and realized that she had fell for it. Again. She huffed and tried to look away. It didn't last long as she started chuckling. Before long they both started laughing over how silly they were being. Ironwood was the first to recover. "Never forget," he said. Winter cleared her throat to listen to him. "Excuse me, sir?" she asked.

"If you're a loving big sister that wants to see her little siblings succeed, never forget that. If you're a high-ranking soldier that has sworn to protect her kingdom, never forget that too. Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you." Winter stared at Ironwood as she thought about the advice he had just given her. She had never thought about looking at it that way. Apparently he wanted her to think about this more alone as he excused himself. He smiled as he stood up from the bench. "Well, I have to go and calm down the protesters outside. Surely they won't forget who I am and try to cause a riot." They both saluted each other. "As you were, Winter."

"Yes, sir. And thank you."

"Anytime."

After Ironwood left, Winter drew her saber and activated her summoning Glyph. She steadied her breathing as she thought over her headmaster's advice. She chuckled when she realized that the metaphor wasn't completely accurate. With aura, they didn't need armor to protect themselves. Still, she understood what meant and took it to heart. After her summoning as complete she looked up and smiled at the ice Armor Gigas that knelt to her.

" _Never Forget._ "


End file.
